Edwards distances himself from Belafonte's comments on bush

[cali]

Edwards on Belafonte endorsement
Posted: Friday, December 07, 2007 3:53 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: 2008, Edwards


From NBC/NJ's Tricia Miller
BEDFORD, N.H. -- Edwards distanced himself from actor Harry Belafonte's controversial comments on George Bush and Hugo Chavez at a house party today. Belafonte endorsed the former North Carolina senator in Charleston, S.C., last night.

"I speak for myself, as I always do, and you know, Harry Belafonte supported John Kennedy, supported Bobby Kennedy, and supported a whole host of presidential candidates over the years. I'm proud of his support, and I thank him for his support, but he doesn't speak for me," Edwards said in response to a question about Belafonte calling the president a tyrant and rallying in support of the Venezuelan leader.

In January 2006, Belafonte called Bush the "greatest tyrant" in the world and reassured Chavez that "millions of the American people" support him. Unlike its usual routine, the Edwards campaign did not send out a press release announcing the endorsement, instead alerting supporters about it on the campaign's blog.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/12/07/503618.aspx

[Adelante]

1. "Does not speak for me"

I remember him saying that about Howard Dean.

It's tough on candidates, though, for them to be held responsible for what their endorsers may say. I remember Wes Clark and Michael Moore when Moore called out Bush for going AWOL. I was proud of both of them, and Wes defended Moore's right to free speech, but it wasn't helpful to the campaign. Candidates just have little control over these things. I mean, look at Andrew Young. Poor Hillary could never have dreamed what came out of his mouth was coming.

[2Design]

2. should have gone with kunich n/t